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^>UR 

THREE 

ADMIRALS 

FARRAGUT, 

PORTER, 

DEWEY 






LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



00057^75^3 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

£^~] 

Chap. Copyright No. 

Shelf.LVt.Xi - 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



Our 
Three Admirals 

FARRAGUT PORTER 
DEWEY 



AN AUTHENTIC ACCOUNT OF THE HEROIC 
CHARACTERS, DISTINGUISHED CAREERS, AND 
MEMORABLE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE THREE 
OFFICERS WHO HAVE ATTAINED THE HIGHEST 
RANK IN THE NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES 



WITH PORTRAITS, MAPS, AND ILLUSTRATIONS 



JAMES E. HOMANS 

Editorial Staff of the National Cyclopaedia of 
American Biography 



Exigui numero, sed belli) vivida virtus. — Virsil 

New York 

JAMES T. WHITE & CO. 

1899 




^tCUHbtJ^f, 



43710 



Copyright. 1899, by 

JAMES T. WHITE & Co. 

[All rights reserved] 

TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 







CONTENTS. 



Preface, ...... v 

List of Illustrations, .... vii 

Farragut, ...... I 

Porter, . 45 

Dewey, ^,.73 



PREFACE. 



In these days when the naval supremacy of the 
United States seems about to be regained, as a result of 
the unparalleled record of the late war with Spain, and 
in the new fleet of powerful fighting ships almost ready 
for commission, it seems timely to propose a brief study 
of the careers of the three officers who have held the 
highest rank and title in the service. It is interesting 
to note what we might almost call the close succession 
in the highest honors. Both Porter and Farragut were 
trained for their heroic careers by that old fighter of 
1812-15, Captain David Porter, who achieved a glorious 
defeat with his ship " Essex," lowering his flag only 
when his strength was spent. These two foster-brothers 
achieved fame together in the Mississippi, where Dew- 
ey's genius also awoke to deeds of daring. Both of 
them held rank as Commander — Dewey, as Lieutenant 
— but, as in a day, they sprang into an undying renown. 

Although dogged courage is a quality for which the 
American Navy has ever been noted, it is in the manner 
of its expression that we may trace the influence of a 
supreme master. Schley learned of Farragut that every 
danger must be dared in the pursuit of duty, and it 
was this grand lesson grandly learned that brought him 
safely through the Arctic ice-pack, that had thwarted 
two previous expeditions, and won him fame as the 
rescuer of Greely. Captain Gridley was mindful of 
Farragut's stern discipline, when, ill to death as he was, 
he insisted on fighting his ship at Manila. " Going to 
Manila killed me," he said, " but I would do it again if 



VI OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

necessary." Captain Sigsbee. stepping from the wreck 
of the " Maine," to send his famous cablegram " Sus- 
pend judgment," showed himself another hero of the 
Farragut mould. 

Besides these three, we might mention among the 
disciples of the Admirals, Captain Charles E. Clark, 
who was ensign on the " Ossipee " in Mobile Bay; 
Captain Francis A. Cook, who was ensign on the "Gen- 
esee" ; Rear-Admiral John C. Watson, who was lieu- 
tenant on the " Hartford," and Rear-Admiral Montgom- 
ery Sicard, who was lieutenant on the " Oneida." 
Captains Henry C. Taylor and Robley D. Evans were 
both ensigns in the North Atlantic Squadron, under 
Admiral Porter, and participated in his famous assault 
on and capture of Fort Fisher. 

The biographies included in this book were enlarged 
from those prepared originally for the " National Cy- 
clopaedia of American Biography." They were care- 
fully compiled from the best accessible authorities, and 
in order to insure the utmost accuracy, were referred 
in each case to the judgment of close relatives of the 
subjects, as is the invariable rule in the preparation of 
sketches for this cyclopaedia. Thus the sketch of Farra- 
gut was submitted to his son, Loyall Farragut, of 
New York City; that of Porter to his son, R. B. Porter, 
U.S.N. ; and that of Dewey to his son, George G. 
Dewey, of New York City, later to his sister, resident 
in Montpelier, Vt , and finally to the Admiral himself. 
Their accuracv is thus assured. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 



David G. Farragut ....... i 

The " Essex " and " Alert" ..... 5 

Gun Deck of the " Essex " ..... S 

The Frigate "Independence" .... 13 

Farragut in the shrouds ...... 23 

The Steam Sloop " Hartford " . . . . 31 

Map of battle in the Mississippi . . . -35 

In Mobile Bay . . . . . . 40 

The " Hartford " and " Tennessee " ... 42 

A Civil War Monitor (tailpiece) .... 44 

David D. Porter ........ 45 

David Porter ........ 46 

The Frigate " Essex" ...... 47 

The Gunboat " Essex "...... 52 

Porter's Mortar Boats . . . . . -59 

Federal Gunboats ....... 62 

Bombardment of Fort Fisher . . . . 64 

Map of Attack on Fort Fisher .... 66 

The Ironclad "New Ironsides " (tailpiece) . 72 

George Dewey ....... 73 

The " Mississippi " and "Manassas" . . .76 

The Steam Sloop "Mississippi" .... 78 

Map of Battle in Manila Bay 85 

The Cruiser " Olympia " . . 89 

Admiral's Flag, I'. S. Navy . . . . -94 



DAVID G. FARRAGUT 







"^ 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS 



FARRAGUT 

DAVID GLASGOW FARRAGUT, the 
first Admiral of the United States 
Navy, was born at B1RTH AND 
Campbell's Station, near Knox- parentage 
ville, Tenn., July 5, 1801, son of George and 
Elizabeth (Shine) Farragut. 

His father ( 1755-1817)^ native of Ciudadela, 
Island of Minorca, came to America in 1776, 
and, like Kosciusko, Steuben, Pulaski, and other 
Europeans, espoused the Amer- father's 
ican cause. He served in the career 

cavalry of the Continental Army, and participa- 
ted in many engagements, notably the Battle 
of Cowpens, where he is said to have saved 
the life of General Washington. After the war 
he resided at various places in Tennessee and 



2 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

Louisiana, and was Muster- Master for the District 
of Washington (Eastern Tennessee) , with the rank 
of Major (1792-93). Early in the Nineteenth 
Century he entered the Naval Service; served in 
1810 as Sailing-Master of the expedition dis- 
patched by Governor William C. C. Claiborne, of 
Louisiana, to take possession of the disputed 
territory on the Gulf coast of Mississippi and 
Louisiana; was for a time Magistrate of Pasca- 
goula County, and accompanied his friend, 
General Jackson, on his Indian campaigns in 
1 813-14. He was married some years after the 
Revolution to a daughter of John and Ellenor 
(Mclven) Shine, of Dobbs County, N. C, who 
bore him three sons and two daughters. 

The family, known variously as Farragut or 

Ferragut, was an old one in the Balearic Islands; 

the line being traceable through 

THE FAMILY 

numerous distinguished person- 
ages to the Thirteenth Century, when Don 
Pedro Ferragut won fame and property under 
King Iago I., of Aragon, surnamed El Con- 
quistador, in the campaigns against the Moors. 
During the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Cen- 
turies thirteen representatives of the family 



FARRAGUT. 



are recorded councilors of the kingdom of 
Majorca; three were magistrates of the City of 
Palma; one, Augustin Ferragut, a noted theo- 
logian, was Prebendary of the Cathedral of Palma 
and Benefadlor of the House of Repentants there ; 
another, Pablo Ferragut, was Topographer and 
Historian of Majorca, and another, Captain 
Antonio Ferragut, won distinction under Philip 
IV. of Spain, and bequeathed his property to 
found a college, which is still in existence. The 
Admiral's grandfather, Antonio Ferragut, son of 
Jorge and Ursula (Guitart) Fer- QRAND . 

ragut, was married to Juana 
Mesquida, of Ciudadela, whose surname seems 
to have supplanted that of her husband in the 
Island of Minorca. In other parts of Spain, 
however, representatives of the family are still 
found in prominent official and ecclesiastical 
positions; Gonzolo Ferragut, a native of Pollenza, 
and a member of the Dominican Order, was made 
Bishop of Urgel in 1827, and of Yoiza in 1831, 
where he continued until his death, in 1843 ; 
during the Spanish- American War of 1898 there 
was an officer in the Spanish naval service bear- 
ing the same family name. 



4 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

David G. Farragut, the most illustrious of this 
long and notable line, never knew childhood in 

ch.ldhood the ordinar y sense, his early 
years being filled with wild 
adventures in the Indian country, and the 
almost equally hazardous exploits of his father, 
who appears to have been afraid of nothing on 
sea or land. When scarcely eight years of age, 
he lost his mother by yellow fever, her death 
occurring in the same house and at the same time 
with that of David Porter, Sailing- Master in 
the United States Navy, at New Orleans, and 
father of Commodore David Porter, who suc- 
ceeded to the office, and shortly afterward adopted 
young Farragut into his family. This was the 
real beginning of his naval career ; for, after a 
little over a year's schooling in Washington, 
D. C. , and Chester, Pa. , he received an appoint- 
ment as midshipman in the Navy, December 10, 
1810. 

He made his first voyage under Captain Porter 

on the frigate "Essex," of 32 guns, and spent 

first the next two years, until the 

SERVICE 

outbreak of the War of 181 2, in 
alternate cruising and schooling. When war was 



FARRAGUT. 5 

declared, the "Essex" was attached to a small 
squadron brought together in New York harbor, 
consisting, beside herself, of the "President" 
and the " Hornet." Putting to sea at once, the 
' ' Essex ' ' opened hostilities by capturing several 




ACTION BETWEEN THE "ESSEX" AND "ALERT. 



British vessels, notably the ' ' Alert " of 20 guns, 
which she took after a fight of seven minutes. 
Later, while lying in the Delaware River, Cap- 
tain Porter received orders to join Commodore 
Bainbridge's squadron in West Indian waters, 
and cruise with him in the track of British mer- 
chantmen, or, failing to overtake him, to act at 
his own discretion. The result was the memor- 
able voyage of the " Essex " in the Pacific Ocean, 



6 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

in the course of which she touched at several 
islands of the Marquesas and Galapagos groups, 
voyage in an d captured numerous prizes. 
the pacific Farragut's account of this 
voyage in his journal abounds in interesting 
episodes of adventure and prowess, such as 
characterized the naval service of that day. 
Finally, having run into the harbor of Valparaiso, 
in January, 1814, the " Essex " was met by the 
British frigates ' ' Phoebe ' ' and ' ' Cherub, ' ' which 
kept her blockaded for over six weeks. On 
March 28th she attempted to escape, and would 
probably have succeeded had not her mainmast 
gone by the board, and caused Captain Porter to 
attempt to return into the harbor.* This proved 
a fatal mistake, and, if we may judge from Far- 
ragut's statement, was a wholly unnecessary 
move. He says : " I consider our original and 
greatest mistake was in attempting to regain the 
anchorage ; as, being greatly superior to the 
enemy in sailing qualities, I think we should have 
borne up and run before the wind. . . Then 

we could . . have passed on, leaving both 



♦See chapter on David 1>. l'orter for further account of this 
incident. 



FARRAGUT. 7 

vessels behind, until we had replaced our top- 
mast, by which time they would have been 
separated, as, unless they did so, it would have 
been no chase, the ' Cherub ' being a dull 
sailer." 

As it was, Porter found himself at the mercy of 
both British vessels, and after a fight seldom ex- 
ceeded for gallantry and perseverance, in course 
of which his ship was nearly destroyed, he was 
obliged to surrender. Although little more than 
thirteen yeais of age, Farragut bore a distin- 
guished part in this action, being, to use his own 
words, "a man on occasions," performing the 
duties of qua t ter-gunner, powder- 

BATTLE WITH 

boy, and, in fact, everything the"phoebe- 

,. , T , . AND " CHERUB" 

that vvas required. In his 
official repott, Captain Porter specially recom- 
mended him tor bravery; expressing regret that 
he was " too young to be eligible for promotion. " 
After the action he volunteered as surgeon's 
assistant, and, as he says, "never earned Uncle 
Sam's money so faithfully" as then, rising at 
daybreak to arrange bandages and plasters, and 
spending most of the day attending the patients 
in various ways. 



8 



OUR THRKK ADMIRALS. 



Shortly after his return to New York he was 
again put to school at Chester, Pa., this time 
under a ' ' queer old individual named Neif , ' ' one 
of Napoleon's famous Old Guard, who had the 




ON THE GUN DECK OP- THE "ESSEX." 

original method of teaching orally, and without 
books, requiring the pupils to take notes and pass 
later examinations. In November, 

sea-service 1814, he was ordered to the 
brig "Spark," one of the squadron fitted out 
under Commodore Porter to prey on the 
enemy's commerce. Peace had been declared, 
however, before the fleet was read)' for sea, so his 
commission was changed to the frigate " Indepen- 



FARRAGUT. g 

dence," as aide to Captain William M. Crane. 
The ' ' Independence ' ' sailed for 

CRUISE ON 

the Barbary coast, but arrived the "inde- 
too late to take part in the PENDENCE " 
Algerine War, and after cruising through the 
Mediterranean Sea, returned home. 

After passing the winter in Boston harbor, 
Farragut was transferred to the " Macedonian," 
and later to the "Washington," Captain Creigh- 
ton, flagship of Commodore Chauncey. "The 
captain," writes Farragut, "was the greatest 
martinet in the service. We had what is called a 
' crack ship ' ; that is, she was in beautiful order, 
with the greatest qua tity of ' bright work, ' 
clean decks, and a well-drilled 

r r , • , CRUISE ON 

crew tor performing their duty the "wash- 
with dispatch. But all this was INGTON " 
accomplished at the sacrifice of the comfort of 
every one on board. My experience in the mat- 
ter, instead of making me a proselyte to the doc- 
trine of the old officers on this subject, deter- 
mined me never to have a ' crack ship,' if it was 
only to be attained by such means." In this 
ship he made a voyage over the Mediterranean 
during 1816-17. 



TO OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

While at Naples the ship was visited by the 
Emperor of Austria and the King of Naples. 
" Everything was in fine order on board," he 
writes, " and a grand display was made to enter- 
tain our illustrious guests. I acted as interpreter 
to the Emperor on that occasion. Prince Metter- 
nich was of the party, and I remember that he 
laughed at me during our tour around the ship 
for addressing the Emperor as 'mister.'" It 
might even be supposed that, with his character- 
istic sense of humor, Farraeut 

VIolT OF THE ' & 

EMPERor. W a:_ thus actually indulging in a 

OF AUSTRIA 

sly joke at royalty ' s expense. At 
any rate, he proceeds to remark : ' ' The Em- 
peror was the only one of the party whose appear- 
ance struck me as ridiculous. He seemed to be 
a mere puppet, was attired in a white coat, with 
two loops of silk cord on each shoulder, buttoned 
to the collar, five large stars on his breast, and 
wore short, red breeches, with stockings and 
military boots. His cocked hat was decorated 
with a green plume, and he took short, mincing 
steps, presenting to my youthful mind altogether 
a silly appearance. The King of Naples was a 
tall, raw-boned, common-looking man." 



FARRAGUT. 1 1 

Excessive reverence does not seem to have 
been a failing of Farragut's character at this 
time; he was also no admirer of the rigid and 
unreasonable notions of discipline then enter- 
tained in the navy, which several times in his 
experience, were made the subject of remon- 
strances to the Navy Depart- naval 
ment and Congress, and which, discipline 
he tells us, made the past-captains, "with the 
exception of a question of life and death, in 
the absolute authority they assumed, but little 
inferior to the Czar of all the Russias." 

Nor does his sea-training seem to have been 
the best preparation in the world for a social 
favorite. When in Marseilles, in the winter of 
1817, he made the acquaintance of an American 
family by the name of Fitch, and was several 
times entertained at their house. On one occa- 
sion, at a dinner party, he was, much against his 
inclination , obliged to play whist. ' ' Not getting 
along very well with my hand," he says, "the 
party showed great impatience, and, I thought, 
were rather insulting in their remarks. One 
individual went so far as to dash his cards on the 
table in derision of my play, when I returned the 



12 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

compliment by throwing them at his head. I 
apologized to Mr. Fitch, and retired, much mor- 
tified, at being compelled to violate the proprieties 
of the occasion and the feelings of my host, but 
my temper had been sorely tried." 

While at Pisa, in 1818, he was invited to a ball 
given by the Countess Martioni in honor of the 
Grand Duke of Tuscany. Here again the dis- 
play was by no means calculated to excite 
a royal admiration in this singularly in- 
banquet dependent young officer. "We 
were shown into the supper-room," he says, 
" prepared for the Duke and his suite, and 
allowed to feast — our vision — on the table. 
We were permitted to walk around 
the table, and make our exit on the opposite side. ' ' 
During the evening he records such errors of his 
as treading on the Grand Duke's toe and catch- 
ing his shoe-buckle in the flounce of the Arch- 
duchess' dress, and then, preparing to retire in 
confusion, only discovered his cocked hat extem- 
porized into a foot-warmer by the Countess 
Testa. ' ' I drew it to me rather unceremoniously , ' ' 
he says, " at which she remarked that I ' ought 
to feel myself highly complimented, and should 



FARRAGUT. 



13 



not be offended.' To which I replied, ' Madam, 
it might be .so considered in your country, but not 
in mine.' " 

In the autumn of 181 7, Reverend Charles Fol- 
som, Chaplain of the "Washington," having 




THE UNITED STATES FRIGATE " INDEPENDENCE." 
( From ii WOOdCUt.) 

been appointed United States Consul at Tunis, 
obtained leave of absence for the young midship- 
man in order that he might 
continue his studies, which con- 
stant sea-duty had seriously interrupted, and 
for nearly a year thereafter he resided at 
Tunis, perfecting his knowledge of modern 



RESIDENCE 
IN TUNIS 



T4 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

languages, literature and mathematics, also 
traveling extensively in the Barbary States and 
Southern Europe. In December, 1818, he re- 
ported for duty at Messina, Sicily, where he spent 
the remainder of the winter, and in the summer 
of 181 9 was appointed Acting-Lieutenant of the 
brig "Shark." This was his first position of 
return to actual authority, obtained be- 
service f ore jjjg twentieth year, and 
nobly did his subsequent career verify his 
theory that it is best to acquire command 
when young, as a preparation for meeting the 
responsibilities of active service. 

After cruising in the Mediterranean for about 
a year he was ordered home to pass examinations 
for a full commission, and, finding no war ship 
ready to sail for the United States, he took pas- 
sage in the merchantman "America." Within 
a few days' sail of their destination they fell in 
with a Colombian brig-of-war, and the captain, 
supposing her to be a pirate, gave over the com- 
mand to Farragut, who prepared to defend him- 
self to the last extremity. The ship's mission 
proved to be merely a request to take charge of a 
packet of letters, but the affair served well todis- 



FARRAGUT. 1 5 

play the young officer's prowess and cool-headed- 
ness. Passing his examination, none too well to 
suit his ambition, he was for about a year and a 
half stationed at Norfolk, Va. There he made 
the acquaintance of Miss Susan Marchant, 
daughter of Jordan Marchant, 

MARRIAGE 

of Norfolk, to whom he was 
married September 24, 1823. In May, 1822, 
he was ordered to the sloop-of-war ' ' John 
Adams, ' ' which conveyed United States Minister 
Joel R. Poinsett to Mexico, and on his return was 
transferred to the schooner " Greyhound," of 
Commodore Porter's fleet, serviug against the 
pirates in West Indian waters. 

In the latter expedition he distinguished him- 
self in several hazardous encounters, principally 
in command of landing parties, and through 
numerous romantic and exciting adventures suc- 
ceeded in driving them from their haunts, and 
practically destroying some of 

SERVICE 

their best bases of supply. He against 

PIRATES 

also narrowly escaped the yellow 
fever, which carried off twenty-three out of the 
twenty-five officers who were stricken with the 
disease, and after a brief visit to his family at 



1 6 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

New Orleans, again went to sea on the " Ferret." 
On this ship, in July, 1823, he obtained his first 
command, after some difficulty in overcoming 
Commodore Porter's scruples against an appear- 

first ance of partiality and his rule 

command fixing promotions by seniority 
in service. During the next two years he was 
mostly engaged in the duty of convoying mer- 
chant ships through the Gulf of Mexico, as a 
guard against pirates. 

He finally returned to Washington, where for 
several weeks he was very ill with yellow fever, 
and in August, 1825, shortly after his recovery , 
he received the lieutenant's commission for which 
he had vainly worked and waited during several 
years. On this point he wittily remarks: " One 
might suppose that these events of my life passed 
lightly by; on the contrary, 1 had always to 
contend with the burden first imposed on me by 
Commodore Porter's saying that I was ' too young 
for promotion. ' Although that remark was made 
just after the action of the 'Essex,' I never 

slow appeared to get any older in 

promotion the eyes of the Government or 

my Commander, and consequently had to con- 



FARRAGUT. I 7 

tend inch by inch, as opportunities presented, 
with men of riper age and apparently more en- 
titled to the places sought. Still, my good star 
prevailed in this instance, and it is to the enjoy- 
ment of these trials that I have always felt myself 
indebted for whatever professional reputation I 
have attained." 

Immediately after his promotion he was ordered 
to the frigate ' ' Brandywine, ' ' cruise on 

THE BRANDY- 

Captain Charles Morris, which wine-- 

had been designed to convey the Marquis de 
Lafayette to France. This ship, which was 
one of the fastest vessels in the world, made 
the voyage in twenty-five days, although she 
sprang a leak the first night out, thus necessi- 
tating the throwing overboard of 3,000 shot and 
some other stores. Upon his return in May, 
1826, he located in New Haven, Conn. , where his 
wife, a great sufferer from neuralgia, was placed 
under the care of an eminent specialist, and he 
himself attended lectures in Yale College. In 
the following October he was stationed on the 
receiving-ship "Alert," at Norfolk, where he 
continued for two years, meantime establishing 
and conducting a school for the naval apprentice 



1 8 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

boys, many of whom did not know their letters. 
He discovered in this work great ability as a 
teacher, and his charges made such rapid progress 
as to elicit from Secretary Southard, as he says, 
' ' one of the few, the very few compliments I ever 
received from the Navy Department or its head." 

From October, 1828, to December, 1829, he 
was Executive Officer of the sloop-of-war 
visit to "Vandalia," which cruised in 

brazil Brazilian waters during the revo- 

lution culminating in the independence of the 
Argentine Republic. He witnessed the festivities 
incident upon the marriage of Emperor Dom 
Pedro I., of Brazil, to his second wife, Donna 
Amelia Augusta, daughter of Prince Eugene, 
Duke of Leuchtenburg, and was presented at 
court with other American officers. 

Finalty an affection of the eyes, due to a par- 
tial sunstroke in Tunis in 18 18, had so under- 
mined his health that he was obliged to apply for 
a furlough and return home for treatment, taking 
passage on the brig " Barnegat," of Boston. Off 
Cape St. Roque they were chased by a supposed 
pirate craft, and by Farragut's direction mounted 
their entire armament, four 18-pounder carron- 



FARRAGUT. 1 9 

ades, while all hands " cut up their flannel 
shirts for cylinders," and prepared to give battle 
with ' ' twenty- four pounds of powder and a 
quantity of musket balls and spike-nails." For- 
tunately the ' ' Barnegat ' ' out- 

AN 

sailed her pursuer, and the cir- unfought 

cumstance served only to furnish 

a subject for conversation during the rest of the 

voyage. 

After a passage of fifty days he arrived in Nor- 
folk, where for the next seventeen months he 
was stationed on the receiving-ship ' ' Congress. ' ' 
In August, 1 83 1, he was ordered to the frigate 
" Java," and in December, 1831, transferred to 
the "Natchez," as Executive Officer with the full 
commission of a first lieutenant. He personally 
selected the crew of the ' ' Natchez ' ' from the 
receiving-ship, and setting sail on January 2, 
1833, ran into the port of Charleston, under 
orders to compel observance of the United States 
revenue laws, threatened by the 

EXPEDITION 

South Carolina nullificationists. to charles- 
Their presence was, however, by 
no means hostilely construed, social events occu- 
pying most of the officers' time. Their boats 



20 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

were generally emplo) T ed in taking company on 
board, and they entertained their visitors with 
music and dancing. On March 26th the ship set 
out on the return to Norfolk, arriving within a 
week with General Scott as a passenger, and 
after about one month's delay made sail for its 
new station on the coast of Brazil. At the end 
of about nine months, in course of which they 
had touched at Pernambuco, Bahia, Montevideo, 
Rio Janeiro and other ports, Farragut was trans- 
ferred to the command of the schooner " Boxer," 
in which he started for home, June 8, 1834. On 
their arrival the ship was laid up, and her com- 
mander, being allowed a leave of absence on 
shore, was during the next four years on duty in 
every naval court-martial held at Norfolk. 

From August 7, 1838, to January 12, 1839, 

he commanded the sloop " Erie," cruising along 

the Mexican coast, and witness- 

THE FRANCO- 
MEXICAN ing such naval operations of the 

WAR 

Franco- Mexican war as the block- 
ade of the port of Vera Cruz and the fall of the sup- 
posedly impregnable Castle of San Juan de Ulloa, 
on which he made copious notes and observations. 
For two years thereafter, he was on land-fur- 



FARRAGUT. 21 

lough, having no regular official duties outside of 
naval court-martials, and literally devoted his 
entire time to the care of his invalid wife until 
her death, December 17, 1840. " No more 
striking illustration of his gentleness of character 
is shown," says his son, "than in Farragut's 
attention to his invalid wife. 

DEATH OF 

His tenderness in contributing to mrs. farra- 
her every comfort, and catering 
to every whim, through sixteen years of suffer- 
ing, forms one of the brightest spots in the his- 
tory of his domestic life. ' ' He further quotes the 
remark of a lady of Norfolk that : ' ' When 
Captain Farragut dies, he should have a monu- 
ment reaching to the skies made by every wife in 
the city contributing a stone to it." 

After the death of his wife, he again applied 
for sea-service, and on February 22, 1841, re- 
ceived appointment as Executive Officer of the 
"Delaware," in which he made another cruise 
in Brazilian waters, being on his return, on Sep- 
tember 27th following, commissioned com- 
mander. "I proceeded at once," he writes on 
taking command, " to overhaul her and rig ship 
with all possible dispatch," and his splendid sea- 



22 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

manship was never better demonstrated than in 

then devising a method of placing the half-tops 

in about fifteen or twenty minutes, instead of 

from four hours to half a dav, as 

CRUISE TO 

south previously. During his sojourn 

in South American waters he 
made numerous observations of interest, and 
among other notable characters met Juan Manuel 
de Rosas, the Argentine Dictator, in whose family 
he was repeatedly entertained. On June i, 1842, 
he was transferred to the command of the ' ' De- 
catur," and in November following set out on 
the return voyage, arriving at Norfolk, Febru- 
ary 18, 1843. This cruise, under Commo- 
dore Morris, was one of great interest to the 
Navy; it was the first effort of the old officers to 
exercise in naval tactics by the squadron, almost 
abandoned since 1 S 1 2 . 

On his return he went to Washington, and 
relates that Abel P. Upshur, then Secretary of 
the Navy, laughed at his ' ' pretensions ' ' for re- 
taining command of the " Deca- 

FARRAGUT'S 

"preten- tur," which was destined for the 

coast of Africa. This method 

of treating efficient officers in the service may 




FARRAGUT LASHED TO THE RIGGING OK THE " HART 
FORD " DURING THE BATTLE OF MOBILE BAY. 



24 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

have been perfectly usual ; Farragut's abilities 
may have been underrated, or his sensibilities 
over keen, yet his journal abounds in complaints 
of the injustice done him by his superiors, 
whom, in turn, he freely criticizes. In April, 
1844, he was appointed Executive Officer of the 
"Pennsylvania," of which he later became Com- 
mander, succeeding Captain Smoot, and was 
then made Second Officer of the Norfolk Navy 
Yard, under Commander Wilkinson. The out- 
break of the Mexican War found him again 
making application for a command, urging as 
a ground of fitness for active 

OPENING OF 

the Mexican service his previous experience in 
Gulf waters and among Spanish 
peoples. ' ' I urged, ' ' he says, ' ' that I could take 
the Castle of San Juan with the ' Pennsylvania ' 
and two sloops of warlike the 'Saratoga,' for 
which declaration I came very near being ruled 
out as a monomaniac. I was willing to take the 
inferior position of Executive Officer on board the 
' Pennsylvania, ' that I might have the duty of 
organizing her crew for the fight; but it was 
not permitted, and I did not obtain command 
of the ' Saratoga ' until February, 1847." 



FARRAGUT. 25 

Taken as a whole, it is not remarkable that 
Farragut calls this cruise the most mortifying in 
his experience. He arrived in time to find the 
castle in the hands of the army instead of 
the navy, and, animadverting severely on the 
misleading statement of an Eng- A MO rtify- 
lish officer, that "the castle 'ng service 
could sink all the ships in the world," 
proceeds to remark that as a result of miss- 
ing an unprecedented opportunity, " not one 
of the officers concerned will ever wear an ad- 
miral's flag." Added to this annoyance, he 
nearly died of yellow fever, and, having had a 
clash with Commodore M. C. Perry, was assigned 
to obscure and inglorious duties. He finally 
petitioned to be relieved of his command, and 
reaching New York after about one year's 
absence, was returned to his former position 
in the Norfolk Navy Yard. 

In October, 1850, with four other officers, he 
was ordered to draw up a book of ordnance reg- 
ulations for the navy — a task which occupied in 
all eighteen months. Greatly to his disgust, 
many of the best features were overruled and 
stricken out, as were also the drawings, which 



26 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

they considered fine illustrations. " Those who 

had the power," he writes, " called a new board 

ten years after, and made a few 

BOOK ON 

naval necessary changes to suit the in- 

troduction of steam and heavy 
guns, and the names of the original board were ob- 
literated. ... I do not care for the praise that 
such a volume might win, but I despise the spirit 
that prompts those who have a little temporary 
power about the seat of government to purloin the 
credit due to others. ' ' 

In 1854 he petitioned for an appointment as 
United States representative to observe the 
naval operations of the Crimean War, but in- 
stead he was assigned to the duty of estab- 
lishing a navy yard at Mare Island, in San Pablo 
Bay, Cal. There he remained until July, 1858, 

services in devoting his energies to the work 
California an( | gtj-^jy refraining from in- 
terference of any kind in local affairs. By this 
wise policy he maintained the strict neutrality of 
the Federal Government in the troubles following 
the high-handed acts of the vigilance committee 
of 1856, and thus, likely, saved the State from 
the horrors of civil war. 



FARRAGUT. If 

At the end of his term of appointment he was 
summoned home and assigned to the newly- 
completed cruiser " Brooklyn," which he com- 
manded on her trial trip, and later on an ex- 
tended cruise in the Gulf of Mexico, conveying 
United States Minister Robert M. McLane to 
various points along the coast, as his official 
duties led him. When accused of having thus 
consented to be at the beck of a " mere civilian, ' ' 
he replied, characteristically, that he " would 
rather be subject to the directions of an intelli- 
gent man appointed by the Gov- 

CRUISE 

ernment, for a purpose, and on in the 

account of his qualifications, than 
to be under some old fool whose only merit was 
that he had been in the navy all his life. ' ' Yet 
the Government's action in similarly placing a 
junior officer over him, when the "Brooklyn" 
was designated to convey an exploring party for 
a proposed route across the Isthmus of Chiriqui, 
met with his prompt and vigorous resentment. 
He was accordingly relieved in October, i860, 
and returning from Aspinwall to Norfolk, re- 
mained on waiting orders until the outbreak of 
the Civil War. 



28 our Three admirais, 

Although a Southerner by birth and by all the 
ties of blood and friendship, his loyalty to the 
Old Flag under which he had served so long made 
him, through all the period of Secessionist agita- 
tion, a firm opponent of the armed resistance he 
foresaw as inevitable. On the other hand, as has 
been stated, a peaceable withdrawal of the 
Southern States would likely have found him 
among his friends. " God forbid," was his con- 
stant prayer, ' ' that I should raise my hand 
loyalty to against the South." Yet when 
the union Virginia passed the Ordinance 
of Secession, and the forts and arsenals were 
seized, he openly declared that President 
Lincoln was fully justified in calling for troops. 
The imminent estrangement from all his 
associates consequent on his loyalist opinions 
led him to remove from Norfolk on April 19, 
1 86 1, and thereafter, until the close of the war, 
his family resided at Hastings-on-Hudson. In 
this quiet retreat he himself remained for nearly 
a year, seeing no official service save on the Naval 
Retiring Board convened in Brooklyn. 

Meantime his energetic spirit chafed with 
impatience at enforced idleness when there 



FARRAGU?. 29 

Was work doing for his country, and, while 
eagerly awaiting his turn, he petitioned the 
Government for a command to obtains 
follow and overtake the Con- command 
federate cruiser " Sumter," regarding the move- 
ments of which he had very well-defined ideas. 
The Government, however, was already con- 
sidering the advisability of appointing him to 
a much wider field — -the command of the pro- 
jected Western Gulf Blockading Squadron. 
Finally, on January 9, 1862, he was officially 
informed of his appointment to this import- 
ant trust, and 011 February 2d he sailed on 
the steam sloop ' ' Hartford ' ' from Hampton 
Roads, arriving at the appointed • rendezvous, 
Ship Island, in seventeen days. 

His fleet, consisting of six war steamers, six- 
teen gunboats, twenty-one mortar-vessels, under 
command of Commander David 
D. Porter, and five supply 
ships, was the largest that had ever sailed 
under the American flag. Yet the task as- 
signed him, the passing of the forts below New 
Orleans, the capture of the city, and the opening 
of the Mississippi River through its entire length, 



THE GULF 
SQUADRON 



30 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

was one of difficulty unprecedented in the history 
of naval warfare. Arrived at the mouth of the 
river, the real work began in the attempt to 
force an entrance over the bar with the larger 
vessels of his squadron. One, the " Colorado," 
drawing twenty-two feet of water, had to be left 
outside; and three others, the "Brooklyn," 
' ' Pensacola, ' ' and ' ' Mississippi , ' ' were towed 
with great delay and labor through a foot of mud. 
Meantime, on April 8th, Captain Gerdes had, by 
Farragut's orders, made a com- 

IN THE 

Mississippi plete triangulation of the river 

RIVER 

shore below the forts, and on the 
13th, the mortar schooners, their masts dressed 
with bushes to conceal their positions behind the 
thick woods, opened fire on the fortifications. 
After over a week of steady work, in course of 
which nearly 16,000 shells were thrown, no appre- 
ciable damage was done to the defences of the 
enemy, nor were any of his guns silenced. Far- 
ragut's distrust of the mortar service seemed fully 
justified by this result, as in his opinion they had 
served only to warn the Confederates of the im- 
pending attack, and during the delay the other 
vessels of his fleet had suffered much from the 



FARRAGUT. 31 

swiftness of the current, several of them parting 
their anchor cables and incurring considerable 
damage by collision. Several fire-rafts — flat- 
boats piled high with pitch-pine timber and ig- 
nited — had also been sent down the river, but by 




THE UNITED STATES STEAM SLOOP "HARTFORD." 

constant watchfulness all had either been grap- 
pled and beached or had floated harmlessly out 
to sea. 

In this period of delay he employed the time 
in closely inspecting and preparing his vessels 
for the contemplated ascent of the river, and 
issued orders, which were most precise and care- 
fully considered, for meeting every possible 



32 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

emergency. The heavy chain stretched across 

the river between Fort Jackson and the eastern 

a gallant shore was cut amid a storm of 
exploit shot and sllen - m the n ig-i lt f 

April 21st by Captain Henry H. Bell, and 
even during his engrossing tasks Farragut 
found time to feel anxiety for his lieutenant, 
writing in his journal shortly after: " I was 
as glad to see Bell on his return as if he had 
been my boy. I was up all night and could 
not sleep until he got back to the ship." 

At last, shortly before 4 o'clock on the morn- 
ing of April 24th, the squadron set out on its 
hazardous attempt to pass the forts that had in 
181 5 defied the British for nine days, and even at 
that late date were considered impassable. The 
attack was made in two columns ; the right led by 
Captain Theodoras Bailey, with eight vessels, 
including the "Cayuga," " Pensacola " and 
"Mississippi," and the left, by Farragut, with the 
' ' Hartford, ' ' ' ' Brooklyn, " " Richmond ' ' and six 
others, while Porter brought up 

THE FLEET 

passes up the rear with six gunboats, un- 
der orders to take up a position 
where he could pour in an enfilading fire while 



FARRAGUT. 33 

the others passed the forts. The first of the 
ships had scarcely passed the hulks supporting 
the severed chain across the stream when both 
forts — Jackson and St. Philip — opened on her 
with a furious fire. Meantime Porter's mortars 
had opened on Fort Jackson from below, and the 
two divisions of Farragut's fleet, so soon as the 
works were in range, began pouring in grape and 
canister. Amid the deafening thunder of over 
two hundred guns they moved steadily on at full 
steam, the signal " close action " blazing from the 
" Hartford's " main-top. "The 

THE 

white smoke rose and heaved passage of 
in vast volumes along the shud- 
dering waters, and one of the wildest scenes in the 
history of war had now commenced. 
Louder than redoubled thunders the heavy 
guns sent their deafening roar through the gloom, 
not in distinct explosions, but in one long, wild, 
protracted crash, as though the ribs of nature 
were breaking in final convulsion." 

After passing beyond the range of St. Philip, 
Captain Bailey's division engaged in a desperate 
encounter with the eleven Confederate gunboats, 
which were destroyed one after another amid 



34 OT T R THREE ADMIRALS. 

prodigies of valor on both sides. But one Federal 
vessel, the " Varuna," was lost, although three 
others were so badly damaged as to turn back and 
float helplessly down the river. The greatest loss 
of life (thirty -seven) occurred on the " Pensa- 
cola," while the "Hartford," "Cayuga" and 
' ' Brooklyn ' ' escaped as by a miracle from the 
gravest dangers. At one time the " Hartford " 
ran aground, and was set on fire by a fire-raft 
a glorious pushed against her by the ram 
victory (< Manassas," only the coolness 

of the commander and the perfect discipline 
of the crew saving her from certain destruc- 
tion. The "Manassas" was almost immedi- 
ately after riddled by a broadside from the 
" Mississippi," and then boarded and set on fire, 
she drifted down the current and blew up opposite 
Fort Jackson. "When the sun struggled up 
through the morning mist," says Headley, " he 
looked down on a scene never to be forgotten 
while naval deeds are honored by the nation. 
There lay the forts with the rebel flag still flying, 
but their doom was sealed. And there, driven 
ashore or wrecked or captured were the enemy's 
gunboats, which had been brought down to assist 



roer srpj/tup 




36 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

the forts in demolishing our fleet." Our total 
loss in this unparalleled combat was 171. 

Captain John Wilkinson, of the Confederate 
Navy, in speaking of this surprising feat, says : 
' ' Most of us belonging to that little naval fleet 
knew that Admiral Farragut would dare to at- 
tempt what any man would," but all authorities 
agree that ' ' had the passage been attempted in 
broad daylight the Union fleet would have sus- 
tained a fearful loss." 

The importance of the victory was very great ; 
its immediate result being to prevent Napoleon 
III. from recognizing the Confederacy and taking 
steps to raise the blockade, as had been his inten- 
important tlon - Continuing at once to 
results New Orleans, Farragut de- 
manded its immediate surrender, and after 
several days of vexatious correspondence with 
the Mayor, he raised the Stars and Stripes again 
above the custom house and city hall. This vic- 
tory was closely followed by the capitulation of 
Forts Jackson and St. Philip, and within a week 
the forces under General Butler had occupied 
New Orleans. At this time Farragut 's desire was 
to proceed at once to attack Mobile, Ala., and 



FARRAGUT. 37 

he hence abandonded his contemplated assault 
on the strong defenses of Vicksburg, Miss. , and re- 
turned to New Orleans. There he received orders 
to continue in the Mississippi until the river was 
opened to the Federal fleet through its entire 
length. He accordingly pro- ATTACK ON 
ceeded to Vicksburg, taking vicksburg 
Grand Gulf in passing, and, having run by 
the batteries, joined Commodore Charles H. 
Davis' fleet of ironclads above the city. The ex- 
pedition failed, however, from non-support by the 
land forces, and on July 15th he again ran past 
the city on his way down the river. 

On the following day, July 16, 1862, in recog- 
nition of Farragut's exceptional services, Con- 
gress created the rank of rear-admiral for his 
express benefit — the title of ad- 

UNPRECE- 

miral having hitherto been un- dented 

known in the United States Navy 
— and, as though the most exalted honors had 
been providentially reserved to reward his unpre- 
cedented gallantry, he was the first to receive the 
title of vice-admiral on December 23, 1864, and 
of admiral on July 25, 1866. 

The remainder of the year 1862 was passed in 



38 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

the river, with small engagements at various 
points, and the capture of such strongholds as 
Corpus Christi, Sabine Pass and Galveston, and 
when arrangements had been perfected for co- 
operation of the land and naval forces, early 
in 1863, Farragut once more re- 

THE FALL OF 

port turned to the task of reducing 

HUDSON ,-■ 1 , ^ ,» 1 «y- 

\ lcksburg. On March 14, 1863, 
with two ships he succeeded in running the 
gauntlet of the batteries at Port Hudson, four 
miles in extent ; all his other vessels suffering 
severely in the attempt, and the fine frigate 
"Mississippi" having run aground, was blown 
up by her commander. With the ' ' Hartford ' ' 
and "Albatross" lie blockaded the mouth of the 
Red River for over two months, effectually cut- 
ting off the Confederate supplies, and later co- 
operated with General Banks in the investment 
of Port Hudson, assisting in its capture on July 
9th. 

After about five months in New York, awaiting 
the refitting of his ships, he returned to the 
command of the Gulf Squadron, and in the 
following summer completed his preparations to 
co-operate with General Gordon Granger in the 



FARRAGUT. 39 

capture of Mobile. On August 5, 1864, he steamed 
past the batteries in the Bay to a point directly 
opposite the citv, thus repea- 

THE BATTLE 

ting in daring and brilliancy his of mobile 
achievements in the Mississippi 
below New Orleans over two years before. It 
was in this fight, and after the sinking of the 
ironclad " Tecumseh," which ran foul of a sub- 
marine mine and went down with almost her 
entire crew, that Farragut, lashed to the 
rigging of the ' ' Hartford , ' ' gave orders to 
put his vessel in the van of the fleet.* The 
coolness and determination of this manoeuvre, 
executed in a scathing fire in defiance of the 
greatest danger from torpedoes and other ob- 
structions, inspired the whole fleet with confi- 
dence, and ensured the victory. 



* The officer who lashed Farragut to the rigging of the " Hart- 
ford " was lieutenant John Crittenden Watson, now (1899) Rear- 
Admiral and successor of Dewey in command of the U. S. Squadron 
in Manila Bay. In a letter, written to his mother at the time, 
Watson describes his act in these words : "At length I lashed him 
to the rigging with my own hands, having in vain begged him not 
to stand in such an exposed place " Between the young lieutenant 
and his gallant commander there seems to have been a close and 
affectionate regard, and Farragut specially mentions him in his 
report on the Battle of Mobile for bravery and faithful attention to 
duty. 



4o 



OTJR THREE ADMIRALS. 



As at New Orleans, the Confederate fleet was 
entirely destroyed, even including the ram " Ten- 
nessee," which, defying the fire of the fleet and 
menacing the flag-ship with destruction, was 




RUNNING THE FORTS IN MOBILE BAY. 



finally compelled to surrender by the monitors 
with their terrible Dahlgren guns.* One of the 



* The Dahlgren guns, so called from their distinguished inventor 
Rear-Admiral Charles Adolph Dahlgren. are historic, not only in 
the fact that they furnished the model and impetus for modern naval 
armaments, but also for their wonderful part in saving the integrity 
of the Federal Union. They were many strides in advance of any- 
thing that preceded them, in scientific principles of construction, 
accuracy, power, and endurance : they necessitated iron-clad ships, 
and also set a period to the old theories of land fortification Their 
distinctive feature was a great thickness at the breach, with the 
barrel rapidly tapering from the trunnions to the muzzle— " soda 
water bottles" they were called— adjusted to meet the varying 
pressure of the explosive force. 

In an able paper on the Dahlgren guns, the admiral's son, Charles 



FARRAGUT. 41 

forts, Fort Morgan, held out for three days, but 
Farragut's dash had rendered resistance useless, 
and actually crushed the last hope of the Confed- 
erates in Gulf waters. 

Shortly after this achievement he was relieved 



Bunker Dahlgren, enumerates nine important engagements in the 
Civil War in which they turned the tide of success: at Port Royal, 
S. C, November 6, 1861, where the frigate "Wabash," with her 
forty Dahlgren guns, silenced the forts and secured a harbor for 
the Federal Fleet; at the attack on Forts Jackson and St. Philip. 
April 24, 1862. when the fleet under Farragut and Porter destroyed 
the Confederate rams and earthworks: at the battle between the 
United States monitor " Weehawken," and the Confederate iron- 
clad " Atlanta," June 17, 1863, when the two Dahlgren guns of the 
former crushed in the sides of the enemy in twenty-six minutes; at 
the blockade of Charleston harbor, when Dahlgren guns not only 
silenced the forts, but put an effectual stop to blockade running ; 
during the siege of Vicksburg, May-July, 1863, when the heavy Dahl- 
grens loaned by Admiral Porter, accomplished the silencing of the 
forts in four days : at the battle between the " Kearsarge " and 
" Alabama," July 19, 1S64, when the two Xl-inch Dahlgrens of the 
Federal ship sunk the enemy in fifty-nine minutes ; at Farragut's 
attack on Mobile, in August, 1S64, when the formidable ram "Ten- 
nessee," a terror to ships of every class, was destroyed by the steady 
fire of the monitors " Manhattan " and "Chickasaw"; at Fort 
Fisher, January 15, 1865, " where the roar from the crescent of 
Dahlgren guns of Admiral Porter's fleet resembled Niagara, and 
their precision of fire was wonderful, knocking the Confederate 
guns quickly out of existence, as well as the gunners " The most 
memorable occasion of their use, however, was at the battle of 
Hampton Roads, between the " Monitor " and " Virginia " (" Mer- 
rimac "), when the two Xl-inch Dahlgrens of the former gained 
the day, and saved the Federal fleet from destruction. Commenting 
on this engagement, Admiral David D. Porter writes : " I was the 
first person whoever fired the Xl-inch Dahlgren with thirty pounds 
of powder, and am of the opinion that, had the 'Monitor' used 
that charge the ' Merrimac ' would have been captured." 



4 2 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 



of his command at his own request, and in De- 
cember was given a grand ovation in New York 
City, and a gift of $50,000 to purchase a house 
there. L,ater he accepted a temporary command 




ENCOUNTER BETWEEN THE "HARTFORD" AND "TENNESSEE. 



in the James River, Virginia, where he was 
stationed at the time of the fall of Richmond. 

In 1868 Admiral Farragut sailed from Brook- 
lyn in the frigate " Franklin," and commanded 
the European Squadron for about a year. During 
this period he visited main- of the countries of 
Europe, and touched at several stations in Asia 
and Africa, being received with distinguished 



FARRAGUT. 43 

honor by rulers and people wherever he landed. 
The Sultan of Turkey accorded him a privilege 
previously reserved exclusively for royalty — per- 
mitting him to pass the Dardanelles in a war-ship. 
Shortly after his return from this trip, failing 
health compelled his retirement from active ser- 
vice. 

Admiral Farragut's was an exceptional charac- 
ter, not only in its strength, but also in its gen- 
tleness and deep feeling. His 

FARRAGUT'S 

religious faith was childlike and noble 

CHARACTER 

sincere. In his family life he was 
the indulgent father and the devoted husband ; 
on ship-board the stern disciplinarian, and yet the 
beloved commander of the humblest sailor. One 
of his fellow-officers wrote when Farragut was 
executive officer of the "Natchez" (1833): 
' ' Never was the crew of a man-of-war better dis- 
ciplined or more contented and happy. The 
moment all hands were called and Farragut took 
the trumpet, every man under him was alive and 
eager for duty." After the terrible fight in 
Mobile Bay, it is related that Farragut, old 
though he was in the ways of war, shed tears 
"like a little child," as his Quartermaster puts 



44 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

it, on seeing the mangled dead and wounded 
bodies that had paid the price of his great victory. 

The Admiral was married for the second time 
to Virginia, daughter of William Loyall, of Nor- 
folk, Va., on December 26, 1843, and had one 
son, Loyall Farragut. 

He died at Portsmouth, N. H., Aug. 14, 1870, 
and his remains lie in Woodlawn Cemetery, New 
York City. 

An excellent biography has been written by 
his son (New York, 1879), and another by Joel 
T. Headley. A statue of him by St. Gaudens 
adorns Madison Square, New York, and another 
by Vinnie Ream is in Farragut Square, Washing- 
ton, D. C 




A CIVIL WAR MONITOR. 
(From a wartime woodcut.) 



DAVID D. PORTER 




mm mm':'" 



( ^l_)^w^2) (^^^Z 



PORTER 

DAVID DIXON PORTER, the second 
Admiral of the United States Navy, was 
born at Chester, Pa., June 8, 1813. 
He came of a family that through several genera- 
tions had been conspicuous for sea-service. His 
great-grandfather, Alexander Porter, for many 
years previous to the Revolution, commanded a 
merchant ship sailing from the A SEAFAR | N g 
port of Boston, and gave valu- family 

able aid to the colonies in the early stages of 
the struggle. His grandfather, David Porter, 
commanded one of the vessels commissioned 
by General Washington to intercept British 
supply ships, forming the nucleus of the 
American Navy. He afterward commanded the 
"Delight," six guns, and the "Aurora," ten 
guns, fitted out by the Americans; and toward 
the end of the war was appointed sailing-master 
in the Navy, a post filled by him until his death 

45 



4 6 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 



at New Orleans in 1808. Both his sons, John 
and David, were early inured to the hardships 

of a sailor's life; 
the former died 
in 1 S3 1, having 
risen to the rank 
of commander. 

David Porter, 
father of the 
Admiral, was 
one of the most 
famous of early 
American naval 
heroes. He be- 
gan his career in 1798 under Captain Thomas 
Truxtun, receiving honorable mention and an 
award for braver}- in his first 
battle, that between the " Con- 
stellation " and " l'lnsurgente," and being com- 
missioned lieutenant before his twentieth year. 
In the war with Tripoli he rendered notable 
service as commander of a boat expedition de- 
tailed to destroy shipping, but was captured on 
the frigate "Philadelphia," in October, 1803, 
and held captive until the close of the war. 




DAVID 
PORTER 



PORTER. 



47 



His most memorable exploit, however, was 
his voyage to the Pacific in the voyage in 
"Essex" (1813-14), in course the pacific 
of which he inflicted untold harm on the 
British shipping, and nearly destroyed their 
whaling interests in southern waters. Arriving 
on January 12, 18 14, in the harbor of Valpa- 
raiso, Chili, he 
was blockaded 
there for over 
six weeks by 
the British frig- 
ates ' ' Cherub ' ' 
and " Phoebe," 
and finally at- 
tempting to es- 
cape on March 
28th, was forced 
into combat with 
both vessels. 
This action was 
one of the most 

gallant of the war., Porter continued the 
fight for two hours and a half, until his 
ship was literally shot to pieces. All but 75 




THE UNITED STATES FRIGATE 
" ESSEX." 



48 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

of his crew of 225 were killed or disabled, 

and no alternative was left but to surrender. 

In his report to the Navy Depart - 

DEFEAT OF 

the ment he said: " We have been 

unfortunate but not disgraced." 
And in view of the fac"t that to have chosen 
rather to go down with colors flying would 
have involved the destruction of scores of 
helpless wounded heroes, the remark seems 
eminently just. Although the "Essex" was 
nearly unmanageable, he attempted to board his 
adversaries three times, only to expose him- 
self to severe rakings; he also failed in the effort 
to run her aground. His heroism excited the 
admiration even of his enemies. 

In 1823, being placed in command of a special 
expedition sent against West Indian pirates, he 
added to his already great reputation, driving 
them from nearly all their haunts, and destroy- 
ing or capturing large numbers of their vessels. 
Finally, having received information of a pirate 
rendezvous at Foxardo, Porto Rico, he dispatched 
one of his fleet, the "Beagle," to investigate 
the report. On landing, her commander was 
thrown into prison by the Spanish authorities 



PORTER. 49 

on the charge of being a pirate himself, and 
Commodore Porter, arriving AN , NSULT 
somewhat later, demanded a TO THE FLAG 
prompt apology for this insult to the United 
States flag. In this affair the Navy Depart- 
ment judged that he had exceeded his au- 
thority and violated the recognized principles 
of international law, but in recognition of his 
zeal in defence of the flag, the court-martial 
called to investigate the case, recommended 
clemency. He was sentenced to suspension for 
six months. This unnecessarily severe treat- 
ment so nettled him that he resigned his com- 
mission, and, in August, 1826, accepted the 
proffered position of Commander-in-chief in the 
navy of Mexico, then engaged in her struggle for 
independence. 

Eater he was appointed United States Consul 
to the Barbary States, and from 1831 until his 
death was charge a" affaires at Constantinople. He 
wrote two books, " Journal of a Cruise Made to 
the Pacifick Ocean by the U. S. Frigate ' Essex,' ' ' 
illustrated with his own sketches (1822), and 
" Constantinople and its Environs " (1835). He 
died on his estate, ' ' San Stefano, ' ' at Pera, a 



50 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

suburb of Constantinople, Turkey, March 3, 
1843. His remains were brought to the United 
States on the brig-of-war "Truxtun," and lie 
buried in Philadelphia. 

Commodore Porter trained the two illustrious 
men who first held the rank of admiral in the 
United States Navy — his son, David D. Porter, 
and his foster-son, David G. Farragut — and 
indelibly stamped his own remarkable traits on 
the characters of both. He had six sons: 
a notable William David, Theodoric, Ham- 
family ilton Thomas, David Dixon and 

Henry Ogden Porter. Thomas and Hamilton 
died early. Theodoric was the first American 
army officer killed in the Mexican War, falling 
in 1846 in an engagement with the enemy's 
cavalry near Fort Brown, on the Rio Grande, 
while serving on a scouting expedition as Second 
Lieutenant of the 4th Infantry. Henry Ogden 
entered the United States Navy in 1840 ; 
resigned in 1847, and served with General 
William Walker in one of his expeditions to 
Central America ; was later attached to the 
United States Revenue Marine, and was Execu- 
tive of the ' ' Hatteras, ' ' when she was sunk by 



PORTER. 51 

the Confederate steamer ' ' Alabama. ' ' He died 
in Baltimore, Md., in 1869. 

William David Porter, the eldest of the family, 
entered the Navy in 1823. On the outbreak of 
the Civil War he was assigned to duty in the 
Western Department under Com- 

WILLIAM 

modore Foote, and, being placed david 

PORTER 

in command of a St. Louis ferry- 
boat, was ordered to transform her into a gun- 
boat within eighteen days. The result was 
one of the most formidable vessels used in 
the Civil War ; her sides were protected by a 
solid timber shield two feet thick, and her 
armament included two 9-inch and one 10-inch 
Dahlgrens. She was named "Essex," and in 
her victorious career she nobly rivaled the old 
frigate of the War of 181 2. 

His first important fight was at Columbus, 
Ky., the highest point on the Mississippi River 
fortified by the Confederates, where he put to 
flight three steamers that were attempting to 
tow a battery up the river. Later, in the attack 
on Fort Henry, the " Essex " proved an efficient 
aid to Foote' s fleet, maintaining a terrific fire and 
dismounting many of the Confederate guns, until 



52 



Ol'R THKKH ADMIRALS. 



a 32-pound shot entered one of her portholes, 
penetrating the boiler, and causing a terrific over- 
flow of steam, which killed or seriously disabled 
twenty-nine officers and men. Captain Porter 




THE UNITED STATES GUNBOAT "ESSEX." 



CAREER OF 

THE 
" ESSEX " 



himself was severely scalded, at first supposed 
to be fatally, and his eyesight 
was impaired for several months. 
On July 13th, 1862, he rejoined 
the Squadron before Yieksburg, and there, 
on the morning of the 2 2(1, under the guns of the 
forts, attacked, single-handed, the formidable 
ram "Arkansas," which had, some days pre- 
viously defied the broadsides of the entire Federal 
fleet. Steaming close to this monster he literally 



PORTER. 53 

"tore up her iron-plating as if it had been 
nothing but so much pine lumber," but then 
retreated, unwilling to expose his vessel to the 
fire of the shore batteries. On the 6th of the 
succeeding month, after partiei- 

DEFEAT OF 

patmg with two other gunboats the"arkan- 
at Baton Rouge, he again re- 
turned to engage her, this time completing her 
destruction by a steady fire of his 9-inch battery, 
driving her ashore and setting her on fire. 

Captain Porter gave timely notice to the 
Washington authorities that the Confederates 
intended to fortify Port Hudson, and through 
the ignoring of his information many hundreds 
of lives were sacrificed. Later he assisted at 
the capitulation of Vicksburg. 

The arduous service of several years had so 
undermined his constitution that 

DEATH OF 

he was relieved from duty at his commodore 

PORTER 

own request, and going to New 
York for medical treatment, died there, in St. 
Luke's Hospital, May 1, 1864. Just previous to 
his resignation he was created Commodore by 
special order of President Lincoln. 

David Dixon Porter, the youngest but one of 



1/ 



54 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

this illustrious family, served continuously for 
sixty-two years in the United States Navy, and 
attained a higher rank than any other officer, 
excepting only David G. Farragut. True to 
hereditary traditions, he went to sea at a very 
early age, serving with his 

BOYHOOD OF 

the father when but eleven years old 

in the expedition against the 
West Indian pirates. Two years later, when 
Commodore Porter joined the Mexican Navy, he 
secured a midshipman's commission for his son 
David, and the lad served throughout the Span- 
ish War under his first cousin, Captain David 
H. Porter, who had also joined the Mexicans. 
His career in this service, however, lasted but 
a little more than a year. It came to an end 
when Captain Porter, in the armed brig " Guer- 
rero," attacked off the coast of Cuba two Span- 
ish warships which were convoying a fleet of 
merchant vessels. The smoke and din of the 
conflict brought to the aid of the Spaniards the 
his first "Lealtad," a 64-gun frigate 
battle. an( j a fter a desperate fight, in 

which Captain Porter and eighty of his men 
were killed, the "Guerrero" was forced to 



PORTER. 55 

strike her colors. The fourteen-year-old mid- 
shipman was taken prisoner and confined in the 
guardship at Havana, but he was soon released 
and permitted to return to the States. 

On February 2, 1829, be was commissioned a 
midshipman in the United States Navy, and as- 
signed to the frigate "Constellation ' ' of the Medi- 
terranean Squadron. He was later attached to the 
"United States" and the "Delaware" on the 
same station. He was promoted IN THE u s 
passed midshipman, July 3, 1835, NAVY 

and from 1837 to 1840 was attached to the United 
States Coast Survey. He was commissioned 
lieutenant, February 27, 1841; during 1843-45 
was once more with the Mediterranean Squadron, 
on the frigate "Congress;" and after spending 
part of the year 1846 at the Naval Observatory, 
Washington, D. C, was dispatched to San Do- 
mingo, as Special Commissioner of the State 
Department. 

On the outbreak of the Mexican War he was 
assigned to recruiting duty at New Orleans, and 
in February, 1847, was detailed to the steamer 
"Spitfire," Captain Josiah Tattnall. This ship, 
with the ' ' Vixen ' ' and two small gunboats, was 



56 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

selected by Commodore Perry to bombard the 
forts of Vera Cruz, opposite Castle San Juan de 
Ulloa, and after six hours' firing succeeded in 
effecting considerable damage in the city. Under 
cover of the night, Lieutenant Porter approached 
the shore in a small boat to take soundings, and 
next morning piloted the little flotilla nearer 
shore, where a fierce encounter with the batteries 
of the Castle ensued. 

Porter served on the ' ' Spitfire ' ' in the expedi- 
tion against Tuspan, and the fortifications on the 

his first river banks above the city. In 

command the attach on p ort Iturbide, 

above the city of Tobasco, June 16, 1847, a t the 
head of a detachment of sixty -eight men he 
lauded, charged and captured the works, holding 
them securely until the arrival of Commodore 
Peny , five hours later, after a weary march of six- 
teen miles from a point of landing below the city. 
For this service he was placed in command of 
the "Spitfire," and during the remainder of the 
war figured in every action along the Gulf Coast 
of Mexico. 

During 1848-49 he was again attached to the 
Coast Survey, but, having obtained a leave of 



PORTER. 57 

absence in 1850, he commanded mail steamers 
plying between New York and the Isthmus of 
Darien for four years. Among his exploits at 
this period was running the steamer " Crescent 
City" into the harbor of Ha- AN 

vana during the excitement in encounter 

WITH 

relation to the ship "Black Spaniards 
Warrior." The Spanish Government had re- 
fused to permit any United States vessel to 
enter that port, but running diredtly under the 
shotted guns of Morro Castle, Porter, when 
ordered to halt replied that he carried the United 
States flag and the United States mail and was 
determined to enter the harbor of Havana. This 
he was permitted to do, the Spaniards thinking 
it not prudent to fire upon him. In 1855-57 he 
commanded the store-ship "Supply," and in 
1858-60 was attached to the navy yard at Ports- 
mouth, N. H. 

When the Civil War seemed immediately 
imminent, David D. Porter, .still 

FORT 

a lieutenant, was summoned to pickens 
Washington for consultation on 
securing possession of Fort Pickens, atPensacola, 
Fla., and was placed in command of the steamer 



58 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

" Powhatan," to accomplish this duty. The 
occupation of the fort was effected without firing 
a shot, and the place was secured against Confed- 
erate attacks within twenty-four hours. He, how- 
ever, sent two shells into the navy yard, and dis- 
lodged the Confederate garrison. These were 
the first hostile guns fired bv the 

FIRST GUNS 

of the United States Navy in the Civil 

War, three days after the fall 
of Sumter. On the same day he was promoted 
commander. 

He was then sent in pursuit of the Confederate 
cruiser " Sumter," which was making havoc of 
American shipping in West Indian waters, and, 
having chased her 10,000 miles in vain, returned 
home. 

While blockading the Southwest Pass of the 
Mississippi Delta, he conceived the idea of enter- 
ing the river and capturing New Orleans, and on 
his return to Washington suggested the plan to 
plan Secretary Welles. So favorably 

T ° °new URE was t ^ ie department impressed 
Orleans w ith his representations that he 
might easily have gained command of the expedi- 
tion, but he himself proposed Farragut for the post, 



PORTER. 



59 



and after having convinced the authorities of his 
loyalty and fitness for the command, despite his 
Southern birth, was dispatched to New York to 
offer it to him. Farragut's answer was : " I will 
take it if you go along" — a proposition which 
Porter accepted with delight. He, accordingly, 




MORTAR VESSELS IN THE MISSISSIPPI. 



joined the fleet with twenty-one schooners, each 
carrying a 13-inch mortar, and the whole con- 
voyed by five war steamers. General Benjamin 
F. Butler was given command of the co-operat- 
ing land forces. With this mortar fleet, Porter, 
in the spring of 1862, made his memorable attack 



60 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

on Forts Jackson and St. Philip, the river de- 
fences of New Orleans. For six days and nights 
he bombarded the forts, discharging at them no 
less than 16,800 shells. Then occurred the 
famous river fight and the running of the forts by 
Farragut, closely followed by the capitulation of 
New Orleans. Four days later, on April 28th, 
the forts surrendered to Porter and his mortar 
flotilla. 

Commenting on the news of this successful 
issue, Secretary Welles wrote to Porter: "The 
important part which you have borne in the or- 
ganization of the mortar flotilla, 

OFFICIAL 

com men da- and the movement on New Or- 
leans, ha& identified your name 
with one of the most brilliant naval achievements 
on record; and to your able assistance with the 
flotilla is Flag-Officer Farragut much indebted 
for the successful results he has accomplished. ' ' 

The next conspicuous service of Commander 
Porter was in the operations upon the Mississippi 
between New Orleans and Vicksburg. His bom- 
bardment of the Vicksburg forts enabled Farra- 
gut to pass them, and he says in his report of 
June 30, 1862: "The mortar flotilla has never 



PORTER. 6 1 

done better service than at Vicksburg." In 
September, 1862, he received command of the 
Mississippi squadron as acting rear-admiral; the 
fleet having been increased from twelve vessels 
to many times that number by furnishing the 
ordinary river steamers with 

COMMANDER 

guns and protective armor. in the 

T> 1 ■ an VI • \-t. r MISSISSIPPI 

Early in 1863, with eight of 
these vessels, Porter co-operated with General 
Sherman in the reduction of Arkansas Post, 
silencing the fire of the fort and pounding the 
bomb-proofs into fragments. The fort finally 
surrendered to him; the Confederate army of 
5,000 men, lying outside the works, to General 
Sherman. He received his first vote of thanks 
from Congress for this service. 

On the night of April 16th, in the same year, 
he ran the Vicksburg batteries with his fleet, and 
although every one of his ships was struck, none 
of them was materially damaged. Being then 
south of Vicksburg he attacked, attack on 
in conjunction with General vicksburg 
Grant, the enemy's works at Grand Gulf, bring- 
ing to bear against them eighty-one pieces of 
artillery, and silencing their batteries. On the 



62 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

surrender of Vicksburg, July 4, 1863, after a 
siege of five months, he again received the 
thanks of Congress and the commission of rear- 
admiral, to date from the day of the capitu- 
lation. 

In the Spring of 1S64 he co-operated with 
General Banks in the combined Army and Navy 
expedition against the strongholds along the 




FEDERAL GUNBOATS IN THE RED RIVER. 

Red River, in order to open the surrounding 
country as a base of supplies. The time was 
red river chosen to take advantage of the 
expedition S p r i ng freshets, and they actually 
penetrated as far west as Alexandria, La. There, 
on account of the subsidence of the stream, 
the larger gunboats were literally unable to 



PORTER. 63 

proceed or return. At the advice of the army 
engineers, Porter was reluctantly preparing to 
burn his fleet, when the genius of Iyieutenant- 
Colonei Joseph Bailey, a simple Wisconsin farm- 
er, conceived the daring project of building a 
dam to deepen the water in mid-channel, and thus 
allow their escape. His proposition was con- 
demned, but being finally adopted, was success- 
fully accomplished. Three thousand men, kept 
at work night and day, constructed dams on 
either side of the river, leaving a stream sixty- 
five feet wide, which permitted the safe passage 
of all the fleet. 

The expedition was a total failure through the 
incompetence and dilatory policy of General 
Banks, who suffered a severe defeat at the hands 
of General Thomas Green, and would probably 
have been annihilated but for Porter's timely 
appearance with his gunboats. Flushed with 
victory the Confederates boldly attacked the 
Federal fleet, calculating that the lofty banks of 
the river, the low water, and the grounding of 
most of the vessels would enable them to make 
short work of Porter. But the gunboats opened 
a galling fire that resulted in routing the enemy, 



6 4 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 



and in the death of General Green. Later, on 
Porter's representation, Banks was relieved by 
General Canby, and although in some quarters 
attempts were made to shift part of the blame on 




THE BOMBARDMENT OF FORT FISHER. 

From a wartimt woodcut, i 



Porter, public opinion awarded him the full 
measure of praise for his share in the unfortunate 
undertaking. 

In September, 1864, he was placed in com- 
mand of the North Atlantic Squadron, and 
ordered to co-operate with General Butler in the 
reduction of Fort Fisher and the other defenses 



PORTER. 65 

of Wilmington, N. C. On the night of Decem- 
ber 24, 1864, he began a bombardment of the 
fort with a fleet of thirty-five attack on 
vessels, five of which were iron- FORT FISHER 
clads, and in about an hour its guns were 
silenced. General Butler, however, conclud- 
ing that the works were not materially in- 
jured, and could not be carried by assault, re- 
turned to Hampton Roads. But Porter, who was 
of a different opinion, insisted on renewing the 
attack, and wrote to General Grant, requesting 
that the same troops be sent back under another 
general. He asserted that in this way the place 
could be taken, and his judg- fall of fort 
ment proved corredt. On Jan- fisher 

uary 15, 1865, with forty-four vessels in a 
curved line, and fourteen more held in reserve, 
he opened a terrible bombardment of the fort, 
driving the enemy into their bomb-proofs, silen- 
cing their guns and dismounting so many of 
them that by the time the co-operating land 
force under General Terry was ready for the 
assault the fort was so weak that it surrendered 
after a few hours' fighting. For this service 
Porter again received the thanks of Congress, 



SCCOAfO ATTACK 

FORT FISHER 




WALTCRA lahc cc. 



PORTER. 67 

as well as of most of the State Legislatures of the 
Union. 

The fall of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, N. C, 
virtually ended the war, closing the last of the 
Southern ports to the importation of supplies 
from abroad. Porter's last duty 
in the Civil War was in forcing the james 
his way up the James River as far RIVER 

as City Point, Prince George County, Va., where 
with a fleet of gunboats he participated in the 
final operations against Richmond. The night 
before the evacuation, April 2, 1865, he opened 
fire at long range on the enemy's works along the 
river, and the noise of the cannonade being inter- 
preted by Rear- Admiral Raphael Semmes to indi- 
cate the advance of the Federal fleet, caused him 
to order the destruction of all the vessels under 
his command. Two days later, Porter accom- 
panied President Lincoln into Richmond in 
triumph, having penetrated the length of the river 
with his smaller gunboats. Admiral Porter thus 
pradlically opened and ended the naval part of the 
Civil War ; having fired the first gun at Pensa- 
cola, April 17, 1861, and almost the last, in the 
vicinity of Richmond in 1865. 



68 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

On September 9, 1865, he was appointed Super- 
intendent of the United States Naval Academy, 
Annapolis, Md., continuing in 

SUPERIN- 
TENDENT at that office until December 1 , 

ANNAPOLIS _ , . 

1869. Here his great executive 
ability and wide experience in the needs of prac- 
tical naval equipment were of the greatest service 
in the upbuilding and enlargement of the insti- 
tution. Meantime, in 1866, he was commis- 
sioned by President Johnson to arrange a lease 
of Samana Bay, San Domingo, and the adjacent 
territory, on the basis of a bonus of $200,000. 
a DiPLo- He was, however, unable to 
matic service conc i u de the negotiations on 
account of the obstinacy of the Dominican 
Government, and the project, accordingly was 
abandoned. After his resignation from the 
Superintendency of the Naval Academy, in 1869, 
he was continuously retained on special duty in 
the Navy Department until 1890. 

When the grades of general and lieutenant- 
general were awarded to Grant 

PROMOTIONS 

and Sherman after the Civil 
War, those of admiral and vice-admiral were be- 
stowed on Farragut and Porter, and on Farra- 



PORTER. 69 

gut's death in 1870 Porter succeeded him as 
admiral, it being provided that the title should 
lapse at his death. He received three votes of 
thanks from Congress for services at Arkansas 
Post, Vicksburg, and Fort Fisher respectively — 
a distinction never accorded to any other naval 
commander. 

Admiral Porter employed his leisure time in 
his later years largely in literary composition. 
He produced his "Life of Commodore David 
Porter " in 1875, and his " History of the Navy 
in the War of the Rebellion" in 1887. The 
latter work is still regarded as an authority on 
literary tne subject, and has been widely 
efforts quoted. His other books are 
"Allan Dare and Robert le Diable" (1885); 
' ' Incidents and Anecdotes of the Civil War ' ' 
(1885); " Harry Martine " (1886), and numerous 
essays and reports of great value and interest. 
He took a pardonable pride in the success of 
his novels, and as an indication of their merit, 
it may be mentioned that his ' ' Allan Dare ' ' was 
dramatized and successfully presented on the 
stage. 

Admiral Porter was married March 11, 1839, 



70 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

to Georgia Ann, daughter of Commodore Daniel 
marriage Tod Patterson, who commanded 

AND FAM.LY the nayal forces co _ operat i ng 

with General Jackson at the battle of New 
Orleans, a service for which he received the 
thanks of Congress by name. She was a sister 
of Captain Carlile P. Patterson, Superintendent 
of the United States Coast Survey (1874-81), and 
of Rear- Admiral Thomas H. Patterson, United 
States Navy. They had four sons: Major Essex 
Porter, United States Army, retired; Lieutenant- 
Colonel Carlile P. Porter, of the United States 
Marine Corps ; Lieutenant-Commander Theo- 
doric Porter, United States Navy, and Richard 
B. Porter, Chief Yeoman, United States Navy; 
and two daughters, the elder, wife of Captain 
Leavitt C. Logan, United States Navy, and the 
younger, wife of Charles H. Campbell. 

Admiral Porter died at his home in Washing- 
ton, D. C, Februarv 13, 1891. 

DEATH 

On that occasion the Secretar) r 
of the Navy issued the following general order : 

Navy Department, ] 
February 13, 1891. j 
The Secretary of the Navy has the painful duty 



PORTER. 71 

of announcing to the Navy and the country 
the death of the highest officer of the ser- 
vice. David Dixon Porter, Admiral of the 
Navy, died at Washington, at 8.15 o'clock 
this morning, in the seventy-eighth year of 
his age. Sixty years of Admiral Porter's 
a noble n fe were actively devoted to the 

tribute service of his country. The 
record of his deeds forms one of the brightest 
pages of its history. His achievements while 
in command of the mortar flotilla of the Missis- 
sippi Squadron at the attack on the New 
Orleans forts and at the fall of Vicksburg, and of 
the North Atlantic Squadron at the capture of 
Fort Fisher, have given him a place among the 
foremost of the world's naval commanders. He 
dies lamented by the whole country, and his 
memory will forever be cherished and held in 
honor by the service. On the da3 r of the funeral 
the Navy Department will be closed, the flag will 
be displayed at half mast at all the navy yards 
and stations and on board all ships in commission, 
and seventeen minute guns will be fired at noon 
from each navy yard. The Navy Department 
will be draped, and all officers of the Navy and 



7 2 



OTTR THREE ADMIRALS. 



Marine Corps will wear the badge of mourning 
for thirty days. 

(Signed) B. F. Tracy. 

The Admiral and his wife are buried at Arling- 
ton, in front of the old Custis home on the hill 
overlooking the City of Washington. A heroic 
statue has been planned for Franklin Square in 
that city, and another to stand south of the 
City Hall in Philadelphia, Pa. 




THE UNITED STATES IRONCLAD FRIGATE ".N'EW IRONSIDES' 
OP THE ATLANTIC SQUADRON. 

From a wartime woodcut.') 



GEORGE DEWEY 





^^ 



DEWEY 



EORGE DEWEY, the third Admiral 
of the United States 



1 wi m^. viiLw wtcttv.^ BIRTH AND 

^"^^ Navy, was born in parentage 
Montpelier, Washington Count}-, Vt., December 
26, 1837, son of Julius Yemans and Mary 
(Perrin) Dewey. 

His father (1801-77) was a practicing physi- 
cian in Montpelier; his mother (1799-1843) was 
a daughter of Zachariah Perrin, of Gilead, Conn. 
He is eighth in descent from Thomas Dewey, of 
Sandwich, Kent, England, who, about 1633, 
emigrated to Massachusetts, and 

ANCESTRY 

in 1634 was admitted a freeman 
at Dorchester. This Thomas removed to Wind- 
sor, Conn., probably with Reverend Mr. Ware- 
ham's company, in 1636; was a juror in 1642-44, 
and died, April 27, 1648. Mrs. Frances Clark, 
to whom he was married in 1639, bore him a 
daughter and four sons, the second of whom, 

73 



74 OT'R THREK ADMIRALS. 

Josiah, was the ancestor of the Admiral ; she was 
married for the third time to George Phelps, of 
Windsor, and later, with all her children but one, 
removed to Westfield, Mass. Josiah Dewey was 
married, in 1662, to Hepzibah, daughter of 
Richard Lyman, of Northampton, Mass., whose 
lineage, some genealogists claim, has been traced 
back through the Lambert family to Alfred the 
Great. He removed from Westfield to Lebanon, 
Conn. , and in that town were born his son, Josiah, 
his great-grandson, Simeon, and probably his 
great-great-grandson, William ( 1746-1813). 
William, second of the name, became an early 
settler of Hanover, N. H. His son, Captain 
Simeon Dewey (1 770-1863), grandfather of the 
Admiral, removed to Berlin, Vt., and subse- 
quently to Montpelier, where he cultivated a 
farm . 

George Dewey was the ringleader of the boys 

at Montpelier in their sports as well as in many 

a mischievous prank. He 

BOYHOOD 

attended school in Montpelier 
and at Johnson, Vt., and in 1S53 was admitted 
to Norwich University, Norwich, Vt. By that 
time he had decided to enter the United States 



DEWEY. 75 

Naval Academy, and through the influence of 
United States Senator Solomon Foot was ap- 
pointed in 1854. He was grad- NA val 
uated with honor in 185S in a academy 
class conspicuous for the number of its members 
distinguished in after years. 

In 1858-59 he was attached to the steam 
frigate " Wabash " of the Mediterranean 
Squadron; his year's work at that station giving 
him the necessary experience for much of the re- 
sponsibility later to be placed in his charge. He 
was commissioned lieutenant, early 

April 19, 1861, and assigned to service 

the steam sloop " Mississippi," of the West 
Gulf Squadron, seeing his first service under 
fire in the fleet with which Farragut reduced the 
defences of the Mississippi River, below New 
Orleans, in 1862. 

In this immortal fight the " Mississippi," with 
Dewey as executive officer, bore herself with dis- 
tinguished credit, although the oldest vessel of 
the squadron and the only side-wheeler. On the 
appearance of the dreaded ram ' ' Manassas ' ' the 
destruction of one or more of the Federal ships 
seemed imminent, but the ' ' Mississippi ' ' pushed 



7 6 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 



forward to close with the iron terror. Appar- 
ently avoiding her, the " Manassas " ran off for 
a considerable distance, and then coming about, 
made for her under full head of steam. Dewey, 
who was at that time on the bridge, seemingly 



) 




^ 



"'!&?"!*} ■-- 

W? ' ~ ': - -- 



ENCOUNTER OF THE "MISSISSIPPI" AND MANASSAS." 



unmoved by the grave danger at hand, was 
quietly giving an order to a sub- 

BATTLE IN 

the ordinate officer. On a sudden the 

MISSISSIPPI 

"Mississippi," swerving to one 
side and then hauling up sharp, opened her 
broadside on the enemy, piercing her armor in a 



DEWEY. 77 

dozen places, setting her on fire, and sending her 
floating down stream to explode opposite the 
forts. 

At the attempted passage of the Port Hudson 
batteries, when the " Hartford " 

LOSS OF THE 

alone of all the American ships "Missis- 
sippi " 
succeeded in keeping on her 

course, the " Mississippi" persisted until riddled 

with shot and shell. Being then run ashore and 

set on fire, the crew escaped in boats; Lieutenant 

Dewey being the last to step from the deck. 

In his report of the disaster Captain Smith 
says: " I consider that I should be neglecting a 
most important duty should I omit to mention 
the coolness of my executive officer, Mr. Dewey, 
and the steady, fearless and gallant manner in 
which the officers and men of the ' Mississippi ' 
defended her, and the orderly and quiet manner 
in which she was abandoned after being thirty- 
five minutes aground under the fire of the 
enemy's batteries." 

Among his last engagements in the Mississippi 
were the attacks on the batteries at Donaldson- 
ville, La. During 1864-65 he was attached to the 
steam gunboat ' ' Agawam, ' ' of the North Atlantic 



78 



OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 



Blockading Squadron, participating in the attacks 
on Fort Fisher in December, 1864, and January, 
1865. On March 3, 1865, he was commissioned 
lieutenant-commander for meritorious conduct 
in both attacks on Fort Fisher. He was ordered 
to the " Kearsarge " in 1866, and to the " Colo- 




VNITEI) STATKS STEAM SLOOP "MISSISSIPPI." 



AFTER THE 
WAR 



rado " in 1867, flagship of the European Squad- 
ron. He returned home in 1868, 
and for two years thereafter was 
instructor in the Naval Academy. In 1870-71 
he was in command of the fourth-rater ' ' Narra- 
gansett " on special service; was commissioned 
commander, April 13, 1872, and then for three 
years was with the Pacific survey. He served as 



DEWEY. 79 

Lighthouse Inspector in 1876-77, then be- 
came Secretary of the Lighthouse Board, and in 
1882-83, commanded the " Juni- among the 
ata ' ' on the Asiatic Station. lighthouses 

He was promoted captain in 1884, and was 
placed in command of the " Dolphin," one of the 
original " White Squadron." In 1885 he re- 
turned to the European Station in command of the 
"Pensacola," the flagship of the squadron, re- 
maining there until 1888, when he was ordered 
home, and appointed Chief of the Bureau of Equip- 
ment and Recruiting with the title of commo- 
dore. In May, 1893, he was appointed a member 
of the Lighthouse Board. On February 26, 1896, 
he was commissioned commodore, and made 
President of the Board of Inspec- THE AS | ATIC 
tion and Survey, which position station 

he held until the fall of 1897, when he was 
appointed to the command of the Asiatic Sta- 
tion. 

While at Hong Kong, in March, 1898, Prince 
Henry, of Germany, arrived at that port with 
his squadron, and gave a banquet to the higher 
officers of the fleets lying in the harbor. During 
the meal the Prince proposed toasts to the various 



SO OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

peoples represented, including China, but 
omitted the United States, whereupon Commo- 
dore Dewey left the table without ceremony. 
a slight He refused to accept anything 
resented font a written personal apol- 
ogy from the Prince, who later made a personal 
call to explain that the neglect to mention the 
United States was unintentional. L^ter Prince 
Henry gave a ball, but Commodore Dewey, 
although invited, did not attend. 

Ten days after the destruction of the " Maine " 
in Havana Harbor, Commodore Dewey received 
orders from the Navy Department to concentrate 
his squadron, and be in readiness to attack the 
Spanish naval forces in the Philippines in case 
war should prove the outcome of the existing com- 
plications. The vessels of the Asiatic Squadron 
forthwith assembled at Hong Kong from their 
several stations : the ' ' Boston ' ' 

MOBILIZING 

the and "Concord" from Korea ; the 

' ' Raleigh ' ' and ' ' McCulloch ' ' 
from Indian waters, and the "Baltimore" from 
Honolulu. The two small steamers ' ' Nan-Shan 
and ' ' Zafiro ' ' were purchased for colliers or 
tenders. 



DEWEY. 8 1 

The War with Spain opened April 21, 1898, 
and three days later President McKinley, through 
the Secretary of the Navy, prepare 
cabled the following orders to FOR WAR 
Dewey at Hong Kong: " Proceed at once to the 
Philippine Islands. Commence operations, par- 
ticularly against the Spanish fleet. You must 
capture or destroy the vessels. Use utmost en- 
deavor. ' ' 

In pursuance of this order, the Asiatic Squad- 
ron, comprising the " Olympia " (flagship), 
' ' Baltimore , " " Boston , " " Raleigh , " " Con- 
cord," and "Petrel," with the revenue cutter 
"McCulloch," as auxiliary despatch boat, 
sailed on April 27th from Mirs Bay. They made 
the passage of the China Sea at leisurely speed, 
and reached Cape Bolinao on the morning of the 
30th. 

Firmly expecting to find the Spanish fleet 
mobilized in Subig Bav, accord - 

A STILL HUNT 

ing to the advice of some of 
the best Spanish strategists — strangely enough 
one of them had in 1 89 1 written a pamphlet 
anticipating the very course of action adopt- 
ed by Dewey, and warning his countrymen 



82 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

accordingly — the ' ' Boston ' ' and the ' ' Concord ' ' 
were sent forward to reconnoitre, supported by 
the " Baltimore." The course was then steered 
to Manila Bay. Under the cover of the night 
the bay of tne squadron crept through the 
manila wider channel, the Boca Grande, 

past the batteries of Corregidor Island, and 
into the open water beyond. All lights were 
extinguished, and but for a spark emitted 
from the " McCulloch's " funnel the passage 
would have been entirely unobserved. That 
was a signal to the Spaniards, who, forthwith, 
opened fire, and were promptly answered by the 
"Raleigh," "Boston" and "Concord." 

The passage was remarkable not only in its 
effecl:, but also for the display of intrepid bravery 
in going forward despite mines and torpedoes 
and the galling fire of batteries reported impreg- 
nable, and Commodore Dewey's feat is, for 
an echo of dash and gallantry, worthy to 
farragut ra nk with Farragut's memorable 
defiance of the forts below New Orleans. It 
is a conspicuous instance of a grand example 
grandly followed. In planning the move, mines, 
batteries and other defenses were simply 



DEWEY. 83 

ignored ; there was neither dragging, dodging, 
nor change from the direct course. Contrary to 
expectation the Spanish fleet did not appear to 
give fight to the invading Americans under sup- 
port of the shore batteries, and Dewey, accord- 
ingly, held his course direct for the city. 

The Battle of Manila Bay began at 5.15 on 
the morning of May 1, 1898, when the shore 
batteries of Manila and Cavite and the Spanish 
fleet, sheltered behind Sangley IN LINE OF 
Point, opened fire on the Amer- battle 

ican ships. The Spaniards, thus sheltered, 
awaited Dewey's approaching line, headed by 
the flagship " Olympia," with the "Balti- 
more," " Raleigh," " Petrel," " Concord," 
and "Boston" following in succession. The 
American firing did not begin until 5.41 a.m., 
when, having sufficiently observed the w 7 ild can- 
nonade and evident intentions of the enemy, Com- 
modore Dewey gave his memorable direction: 
"You may fire when you are ready, Gridley." 
Two mines w r ere exploded ahead of the ' ' Olym- 
pia," too far away to be effective, and she and her 
companions bore steadily forward, countermarch- 
ing in a line approximately parallel to that of the 



84 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

Spanish fleet, and maintaining a constant cannon- 
ade, wonderful for its precision, at ranges varying 
complete from 5,000 to 2,000 yards. It 

DESTRUCTION tQok j^ fiye tums tQ do the 

work. The effect of the American fire was ter- 
rific in its destructiveness, and the Spanish ships, 
being disabled one after another, were run 
aground, sunk or blown up. One of them, 
the ' ' Don Antonio de Ulloa ' ' attempted to keep 
up the fight, but was soon sunk by the American 
fire. At 7.35 a.m. Dewey withdrew his squad- 
ron for breakfast to the middle of the bay, and 
returning to the attack at 11. 16, completed the 
work of destruction in a little less than two 
hours; the whole Spanish fleet of twelve vessels 
being left hopeless wrecks. 

In the early part of the fight the land batteries 
of Manila maintained an incessant fire, to which 
the American squadron made no reply, but Com- 
modore Dewey effectively silenced them by a mes- 
sage threatening to shell the city if they con- 
tinued. Although holding no high opinion of 
Spanish marksmanship, he provided to protect 
his own ships by a continual forward movement 
that prevented the gunners from finding the 



BATTLE 
MANILA BAY. 

M/lYJ^/B9Q. 




86 OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

range in time to do them serious harm, with the 
result that but few shells struck the American 
ships. In the course of the action the " Don 
Juan de Austria," and later also the " Reina 
Cristina" made a dash at the " Olympia," with 
evident intention of ramming or using torpedoes, 
but the steady fire of the American gunners 
drove both back in flames to run aground near 
the shore. Two small launches, 

A 

resistless believed to be torpedo-boats, were 
discovered in the path of the 
flagship, one being sunk, the other wrecked. 
As was afterward alleged, the latter was a private 
yacht, bent on domestic business in Manila. 
A few well-aimed shots from the ' ' Raleigh ' ' 
brought down the Spanish flag at Cavite after 
the naval force had been utterly vanquished, and 
crews in whale-boats pulled ashore to complete 
the work of destruction and capture any launches 
or tugboats found afloat. 

The American loss was seven wounded, the 
Spanish, over 200 killed. All the Spanish vessels 
were destroyed — " Reina Cristina," " Castilla," 
" Don Antonio de Ulloa," sunk; " Don Juan de 
Austria," " Isla de Luzon," " Isla de Cuba," 



DEWEY. 87 

"General Lezo," "Marques del Duero," " Ar- 
gos," "Velaseo," and "Isle de Mindanao," 
burned. On May 4th Commodore Dewey sent 
the following dispatch: 

' ' I have taken possession of the naval sta- 
tion at Cavite. Have destroyed the fortifica- 
tions at bay entrance, paroling garrison. I con- 
trol bay completely and can take city at any 
time. The squadron is in ex- VEN1 VIDIi 
cellent health and spirits. Span- VICI 

ish loss not fully known, but very heav)-. One 
hundred and fifty killed, including the captain of 
the ' Reina Cristina. ' I am assisting in protect- 
ing the Spanish sick and wounded. Two hun- 
dred and fifty sick and wounded in hospital 
within our lines. Much excitement at Manila. 
Will protect foreign residents. ' ' 

Contrary to the expectation of the Spaniards, 
Manila was not bombarded, and on this account 
the Governor-General defied the American au- 
thority for several weeks, although a strict 
blockade of the port was maintained. 

The complete annihilation of the Spanish fleet 
at Manila aroused enthusiasm throughout the 
civilized world, and Commodore Dewey was at 



88 OUR THREK ADMIRALS. 

once appointed acting rear-admiral by Presi- 
dent McKinley, and shortly after confirmed by 
Congress in the appointment to 

THE THANKS 

of a the full rank. On May 9th the 

President sent a special message 
to Congress which contained this splendid 
tribute: 

' ' The magnitude of this victory can hardly be 
measured by the ordinary standards of naval war- 
fare. Outweighing any material advantage is the 
moral effect of this initial success. At this unsur- 
passed achievement the great heart of our nation 
throbs, not with boasting or with greed of con- 
quest, but with deep gratitude that this triumph 
has come in a just cause, and that by the grace of 
God an effective step has thus been taken toward 
the attainment of the wished-for peace." The 
message concluded: "I now recommend that, 
following our national precedents, and expressing 
the fervent gratitude of every patriotic heart, the 
thanks of Congress be given Rear-Admiral 
George Dewey, of the United States Navy, for 
highly distinguished conduct in conflict with the 
enemy, and to the officers and men under his 
command for their gallantry in the destruction of 



DEWEY. 



89 



the enemy's fleet and the capture of the enemy's 
fortifications in the Bay of Manila." 

The surrender of Manila was preceded by seri- 




INITED STATES UNARMORED CRUISER "OLYMPIA."' 

ous fighting all along the American lines, and 
after the capitulation the situa- 
tion became enormously com- aftermath 
plicated, requiring the greatest OF THE WAR 
coolness and the most positive determination, 
until the arrival of reinforcements in sufficient 
number and a military governor relieved him of 
the responsibility. Not only were the trying 
and annoying adts on the part of the Filipinos 
under their cunning and aggressive chief, 
Aguinaldo, most difficult to meet, but disturbing 



go OUR THREE ADMIRALS. 

incidents in connection with the acts of the 
German Admiral at Manila, frequently threat- 
ened to precipitate international complications. 

Through all these perplexities, Dewey dis- 
played the calm positiveness of a master and the 
diplomatic genius of an experienced statesman. 
His achievements in arms and after, through 

the reward a11 the trying scenes of the 
of heroism Philippine revolt against the 
establishment of American power in the islands, 
determined President McKinley to yield to the 
popular demand and recommend the revival, 
in favor of Dewey, of the rank of admiral, 
previously held only by Farragut and David D. 
Porter, and vacant since the latter's death in 1891 . 
Accordingly, on March 3, 1899, the appointment 
was confirmed in executive session of the United 
States Senate, making Dewey not only ranking 
officer in the Navy, but the superior of all others 
in either sendee , since major-generals are rated 
on a parity with rear-admirals. 

.Having been finally relieved of command at 
Manila on his own request, Admiral Dewey set 
sail on his return voyage to the United States in 
the cruiser " Olympia," May 20, 1899, and after 



DEWRY. 91 

a leisurely journey, via the Suez Canal, touch- 
ing at most of the important points, he arrived at 
home in the early autumn. 

It is, perhaps, unexampled in history that an 
officer should serve his government faithfully, 
courageously, and often under the most danger- 
ous conditions, should pass without special public 
note through the different grades of rank to near 
the highest, and then at the age 

THE 

of sixty, by one marvellous feat inspiration 

........ , . OF GENIUS 

of inspired daring, overshadow 
all the great records of the world. Nelson was 
great before Trafalgar; Napoleon superb before 
Austerlitz and Marengo; Grant magnificent be- 
fore Appomattox; but to Dewey there seemed to 
come at Manila, once and for all time, the audaci- 
ty, as well as the inspiration, which raised him, 
as by one stroke, to the immortal peerage of 
naval heroism. 

Vice-Admiral Philip Howard Colomb, a retired 
English naval officer of great distinction, wrote 
shortly after the battle: "I doubt if there ever 
was such an extraordinary illustration of the 
influence of sea power. An American fleet has 
attacked and beaten a Spanish fleet supported 



02 OUR THKKK ADMIRALS. 

by batteries, and it now appears it passed these 
batteries and has taken up an unassailable posi- 

enoland to ^ on °^ Manila. The boldness 
America Q f t ^ e American commander is 
beyond question. Henceforth he must be 
placed in the Valhalla of great naval commanders. 
Nothing can detract from the dash and vigor of 
the American exploit, or dim the glory which 
Dewey has shed upon the American Nav)-. It 
may be bad for the world, for assuredly the 
American Navy will never accept a subordinate 
place after this exhibition of what it can do." 

John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy, wrote 
some months after the war : "This victory (at 
Manila Bay) made Commodore Dewey deservedly 
famous, and gave him rank among the most dis- 
tinguished naval heroes of all time. Nor was his 
merit most in the brilliant victory which he 
the glory achieved. ... It was still 

of our navy more j n the nerve with which 
he moved from Mirs Bay to Manila harbor; 
the high commanding confidence of 
a leader who has weighed every risk, pre- 
pared himself for every emergency. . . . 
It was a man of resolution and power, who, at 



DEWEY. 93 

that vast distance from home, with his little fleet 
shut off by the neutrality laws from, every port, 
and bearing the fate of his country in his hand, 
was equal to the emergency, and met it as se- 
renely and masterfully as if it were an incident 
of an ordinary voyage." 

Admiral Dewey was married at Portsmouth, 
N. H., October 24, 1867, to Susan B., daughter 
of ex-Governor Ichabod Good- 
win, of Portsmouth, N. H. 
She died in December, 1872, leaving a son, 
George Goodwin, who, after his graduation 
at Princeton College, entered business in New 
York City. 



DEWEY'S 
MARRIAGE 




ADMIRALS FLAG OF THH UNITED STATKS NAVY. 



SEP 27 1809 



